Lot 118: Alpini (Prosper)

Lot 118: Alpini (Prosper). De Plantis Ægypti Liber Cum Observationibus & Notis Joannis Veslingii equitis in Patavino Gymnasio Anatomiæ & Pharmacie Professoris Primarii. Accessit Alpini de Balsamo Liber. Editio altera emendatior, 2 parts in one, 2nd edition, Padova: Pauli Frambotti, 1640/1639, each part with vignette title-page and separate pagination and collation, title to first part with early manuscript inscription 'Ex libris Francisci Sauvin Medici 1666', numerous full-page wood engravings, woodcut initial letters and tail-piece, some light spotting, marbled edges, near contemporary limp vellum, 4to. Nissen 20. Johann Vesling first published his commentary on Alpini's 1592 publicatin 'De Plantis Ægypti' in 1638. Alpini's book was the first treatise on the plants of Egypt, and his 'De Medicina Egyptiorum' (Venice, 1591) is said to contain the first account of the coffee plant published in Europe. Vesling was a German physician and botanist who lived for a time in Egypt and Palestine before moving to Padua where he was professor of anatomy and surgery, and director of the Padua Botanical Garden from 1638 to 1649. (1)
Dominic Winter's Printed Books and Maps Auction September 2015
Wednesday, 16th September 2015
Estimate: £300-500